Our friends at Green Kitchen Storie created this salad in collaboration with Swedish/Italian family company Zeta. They are launching a new range of organic whole grain mixes . Since grains can be a little colourless, they asked Green Kitchen Stories for a delicious recipe that looked stunning (no pressure, right). Luise and Elsa share a deep love for Italy and Italian flavours and they truly indulged in that while creating this salad.

The grains add a nourishing base for this salad and they are tossed in pesto for extra flavor. They add sunchokes that are roasted until buttery soft and mix with thinly sliced raw, crunchy chioggia beets (aka candy cane or polka beets) and radishes. Of course they threw in some mozzarella and pine nuts (influenced by Italy!), and added red grapes for sweetness. All in all, it’s a real beauty of a salad, it is very nourishing and tastes just as good as it looks.

The idea of mixing chioggia beets with radishes for a colourful kick is shamelessly inspired by some of the salads in Erin Irelands instagram feed (worth checking out btw!).

Preheat the oven to 200°C / 400°F. Rinse and brush the sunchokes (don’t bother peeling them) and cut them in 5-10 mm (1/4-inch) slices. Place the slices in a bowl, drizzle over olive oil and toss them until everything is covered in oil. Spread out the slices on a baking sheet covered with baking paper. Roast for 30-40 minutes or until soft with crispy edges.

Meanwhile, cook the grains in a large sauce pan filled with salted water, following the cooking time on the package. Drain any excess water and scoop the grains back into the sauce pan.

Stir together the pesto dressing and pour over the grains in the sauce pan. Make sure they are all covered and then pour the grains out onto a wide plate or salad bowl.

Layer with sunchoke slices and torn mozzarella chunks. Use a mandolin (or sharp knife) to shave the polka beets and radishes very thinly and spread on top of the salad together with pine nuts, grapes, rucola/arugula and basil.

1/2 stick of Butter(1 tablespoon for caramelizing onions and melt the rest for the layering of the Phyllo)

1/2 cup yellow and red grape tomatoes

1/2 up heirloom tomatoes

1/2 cup zucchini and yellow squash

1 cup Ricotta cheese

1/2 cup Feta cheese

1 brown onion sliced thin

1 teaspoon lemon zest

2 tablespoons Red Balsamic Vinegar

1/4 cup Fresh Basil chopped fine

Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions

1.Slice Tomatoes place in a bowl with salt , pepper ,a drizzle of EVOO and Balsamic Vinegar .Cover and refrigerate at least an hour. Slice onions ,place in skillet with butter and EVOO,add salt and pepper, saute until golden brown.Remove from skillet and let cool. Slice zucchini and squash in circles, add to skillet , saute about 5 to 10 mins. in EVOO, add salt and pepper. Remove from heat and let cool.Remember it is important to flavor every layer. Salting the tomatoes and letting them drain before adding them to the tart ensures that your tart ends up intense and jammy instead of watery.
2.Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Brush the bottom and side of a 9-inch tart pan with some of the melted butter. For crust, unroll phyllo dough; cover with plastic wrap. Remove one sheet of phyllo and lightly brush with melted butter. Place a second sheet of phyllo on top, placing it at an angle to the first sheet; brush with butter. Repeat with remaining phyllo sheets one at a time, placing each at an angle to the previous sheet to form a circle and brushing each with butter. Using a wide spatula, transfer the phyllo stack to the prepared pan, carefully easing it into the pan and allowing some of the phyllo to hang about 1/2 inch over the edge of the pan. Make two slits in the center of the phyllo stack for steam to escape.

3. Bake in preheated oven about 8 minutes or until phyllo is light golden brown. Cool on a wire rack. Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees F.
4.Meanwhile, drain the tomatoes, reserving 2 tablespoons of the marinade. Set tomatoes aside. In a large mixing bowl, mix the Ricotta cheese with fork until smooth. Add feta cheese, herbs, lemon zest ,mix well. Add eggs,mix just until combined (do not over mix). Pour mixture into crust-lined pan.
5. Add the carmelized onions to the top of the ricotta and drizzle a tablespoon of the tomato marinade on the onions . Begin placing the tomatoes around the outer edge of the tart pan,continue to fill in. Place the zucchini and squash in a similar pattern( see photo) until the tart is completely filled in.Drizzle with the remaining marinade.
6. Bake for 15 to 18 minutes or until center is soft-set and edge stays firm when gently shaken. If necessary, loosely cover the edge with foil the last 10 minutes of baking to prevent overbrowning. Cool in pan on a wire rack.

This wonderful simple tart is always a crowd pleaser. I constantly get asked “what’s in it ?” or “Tell us how to make it!”.

Heirloom tomatoes are some of the most impressively colorful fruits out there. They range from dark purple to sunshine yellow, and can be as small as a Roma tomato or as big as a navel orange. You’ll find the best ones at the best prices in July and August when they’re in season, but no matter when you get them, use them quickly. Their shelf life is shorter than that of their classic red brethren.

If you can’t find heirloom tomatoes in your area, you can make this recipe with Roma or plum tomatoes instead. Here it is… I LOVE to cook for others and am an avid fan of the local foodie movement .

A little back history on my love of food..I was fortunate to have grown up in a time where the kitchen and gathering together for meals was an important daily activity. We prepared a well rounded variety of styles of cooking from around the globe. We grew some veggies, herbs, scratched baked everything,made our own sauces and jams,etc. My grandmother had me washing rice and helping prepare meals ever since I can remember. Fresh as can be (luckily Grandma worked for a major Produce vendor) was Grandma’s way. Watching Julia Child, the Galloping Gourmet and Jacque Pepin were my visual food influencers as well.

Fabulous Foodie Fridays Celebrates…Cinco de Mayo, or “the fifth of May” in Spanish, is a day to celebrate Mexican heritage and pride. Not that I need a reason to make my favorite Mexican recipes. With a family of 4 that includes a gluten free vegan, a teenager that prefers her meals out of a box and 2 in between, preparing a meal can be a challenge. One of the things I like best about Mexican cuisine is you have so many options that can be made unbelievably delicious without meat (and gluten free), family and friends won’t give it a second thought.

We’ve mastered cheesecake, nailed fresh pasta and perfected braided bread. So we’re feeling pretty good about this recipe for homemade dumplings. Our trick is to start with store-bought wrappers (that’s half the battle right there) and then mix up a filling with just a few simple ingredients–pork, ginger, garlic, sesame oil. Assembly is a snap (and enlisting a friend or two to help doesn’t hurt, either). Serve these with a spicy-sweet dipping sauce and you’ve got another one for the (recipe) books.

1. Make the dumplings: In a large bowl, use your hands (or a spoon) to mix the pork with the garlic, ginger, sesame oil, soy sauce and cilantro until thoroughly combined.2. Place a dumpling wrapper on your work surface, and then put a rounded tablespoon of pork filling in the center (see Finishing Touches, below).3. Dip your index finger into water and wet the edges of the wrapper. Gently fold the wrapper over to form a triangular pouch, then press firmly to seal the edges. Repeat with the remaining wrappers and filling. Set the finished dumplings aside.4. Make the dipping sauce: In a small bowl, whisk the soy sauce with the rice wine vinegar, sweet chile sauce, Sriracha sauce and ginger until combined. Garnish with sesame seeds and set aside.

5. Cook the dumplings: Heat the peanut oil in a large sauté pan. Add the dumplings to the pan and cook, undisturbed, until the bottom is brown and crisp, 3 to 4 minutes. Add the ½ cup water to the pan and cover, continuing to cook for 3 to 4 minutes more.

6. Carefully remove the dumplings from the pan. Garnish the dumplings with scallions and serve with the dipping sauc

Thanks to Women’s Health for these ofter overlooked health and fitness tips

If you’re like 99.99% of women in America, you probably own an amazingly comfy pair of workout pants. These tights or capris are so wonderful, in fact, that you wish you could wear them to work, but since you’re not looking to have an HR meeting anytime soon, you settle for wearing them to work out. And then, you know, for 3 hours after your workout, because they’re so comfy that YOU CANNOT TAKE THEM OFF. EVER.

Well, hate to burst your bubble, but not showering right away, a.k.a. keeping your workout clothes on after you exercise for as long as humanly possible, is actually really bad for you—it can cause yeast infections, much like keeping on a wet bathing suit for too long, explains Trina Warren, a certified personal trainer and Pilates Instructor at AYC Health & Fitness in Kansas City. And it doesn’t even matter if you exercise inside a toasty gym or the chilly outdoors—both are bad. “It’s the overall dampness of your workout gear plus the sweaty undergarments that trigger the infections,” Warren explains.

Her advice? Take a shower immediately after your sweat session. This is extra important if you worked out outside and you have environmental allergies, like grass allergies or hay fever, because pollen (an allergen) sticks on your clothes and hair.

Or, if you know you’re going to be running errands afterward and won’t have access to a shower ASAP, at least opt for workout clothes made from synthetic fabrics that are specifically designed to get rid of sweat and keep you cooler and drier. That is, stay away from cotton—that material is the worst because it actually retains sweat and moisture, keeping you sticky and stinky for longer until you shower.